Britain’s most decorated diver turned crafting icon arrives on foot to his interview with The Times, a suitcase of homemade creations in tow
Daley took up needles during lockdown – sight many witnessed on the sidelines of this year’s Olympics
“My coach wanted me to find something to chill out with and stop me overthinking”
He shows off his “cosy” – a little woollen home he fashioned for his long-anticipated medal, featuring the Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other.
But When Daley speaks of the pandemic and its impact, he’s not talking about the Olympics and his diving
In January this year he began to suffer headaches and dizziness, which, initially, he put down to a mild concussion he’d sustained in training on New Year’s Eve
Then the fever took hold, veering from racking chills and chattering teeth to burning heat
He ached, felt faint, couldn’t speak more than two words and his husband, Dustin Black, had to help him walk down the stairs
The next morning, he shuffled the mile and a half to the nearest centre for a PCR test, which proved positive. Black then developed symptoms too, just as Daley’s worsened
A paramedic was dispatched and decided, given Daley’s history with pneumonia, he should be hospitalised
Chest X-rays revealed blotches on his lungs
He was given oxygen and monitored for ten hours before being sent home
He hasn't ever spoken about contracting Covid until now
“You can’t let your competitors think that they’ve got one up on you. I wanted them to think that I was training as hard as them”
There is, he thinks, a lingering 5% reduction in his cardiovascular fitness because of it
Daley says that there were moments where he had flashes of fear about whether he would be put on a ventilator, and his time being up
🔺EXCLUSIVE: Zia Yusuf is returning to Reform UK just 48 hours after resigning as the party’s chairman and will take up a new role following peace talks with Nigel Farage
In an interview with The Sunday Times, the 38-year-old businessman said his decision to quit was a “mistake”, the result of “exhaustion” and working for 11 months “without a day off”
He was speaking alongside Farage, who said Yusuf will now effectively be doing “four jobs”, although his formal title has not been decided
🔺 EXCLUSIVE: A Liberal Democrat MP has been refused entry to Hong Kong to visit her newborn grandson
Wera Hobhouse, 65, flew to the Chinese region — a British territory until 1997 — on Thursday but was held at airport security, questioned and put on the first flight home five hours later
She had her passport confiscated, was asked about her job and purpose of her trip, had her luggage searched and swabbed, and was then escorted to the boarding gate by four immigration officers
Russia attacked Ukraine with 145 drones and six long-range missiles overnight, including attacks on energy infrastructure, despite President Putin claiming he had ordered an end to strikes on the Ukrainian power grid
Ukraine has an undeniable right to defend itself on its own and supported by partners, President Stubb of Finland said today after meeting with President Zelensky in Helsinki
📸KIMMO BRANDT/EPA
Zelensky said he will talk to Trump today, the first time they have spoken directly since the bust-up between the two in the Oval Office last month.
Zelensky said he expects to hear details from the US president regarding his two-hour phone call with Putin yesterday
Lucy Powell, the Leader of the Commons, said that an Elections Bill — which would include lowering the voting age — could come in the next parliamentary session
In its manifesto Labour committed to giving “16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections”, but the pledge was not included in the government’s first King’s speech, setting out its priorities for its first parliamentary session
On the eve of election day, the polls had predicted the closest race in modern times. Instead, it was a rout
With Donald Trump poised to sweep Kamala Harris in all seven swing states, the pollsters — despite spending an estimated half a billion dollars on surveying the nation — underestimated the president-elect’s support for the third election in a row